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Franklin & Marshall College professor builds his own plane to fly

By SALLY MELCHER JARVIS, Lancaster Online

Updated:
12/11/2012 06:26:48 PM EST

Last month, a snappy small white airplane with red and blue stripes landed at Lancaster Airport. Inside were pilot Gary Leinberger and his wife, Susan. Leinberger built the entire airplane himself. It took him nine and a half years.

"I have been excited about flying since I was 12," says Leinberger, who grew up in Upper Darby. He had hoped to join the Air Force after graduating from high school, but did not meet the vision requirements. He joined the ROTC at Lehigh University, graduating in 1970. After training in the US, he was sent to Germany as a tank platoon leader. There, he joined a German glider club where the instructor, a former POW, spoke excellent English and taught him well.